LA TUQUE, Que. — Nine forest fires continue to rage out of control in the Haute-Mauricie region of Quebec and over 50 continue to blaze across the province.

A spokeswoman for the province’s forest-firefighting organization says conditions have improved since Friday when 16 fires were burning out of control.“We take it one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time,” said Melanie Morin on Saturday.

“Presently we’re working on the fires that are out of control.”

Crews are using water bombers and creating fire breaks as a preventive measure, but are still concerned about a forecast for stronger winds, said Morin.

Winds are expected to pick up to between 30-to-40 km/h on Saturday afternoon.

“We will be evaluating the fires and their progression and making sure the communities surrounded by these fires are still safe,” she said.

About 1,000 firefighters and specialists are currently on the ground battling the blazes, including some 200 helping out from the U.S., Manitoba, New Brunswick and British Columbia.

Some 2,400 people were evacuated from four communities in the region earlier this week.

The Red Cross is helping Quebec handle the relocation operation in the Mauricie, the Lanaudieres and the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean regions and have about 100 workers and volunteers assisting the evacuees.

Some 1330 people were evacuated from the First Nations community of Wemotaci and many are bunking at a local school. A further 1,000 people from the communities of Manawan and from Obedjiwan were also forced to flee the smoke.

The Haute-Mauricie region in central Quebec is the worst hit in the province with 25 fires now blazing. But Abitibi-Temiscamingue, Nord-du-Quebec and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean are also threatened by the flames.

The risk of new fires remains extreme across Quebec and open-air fires are banned in most regions of the province. 13:38ET 29-05-10

It's strange but not that strange, I noticed in my own garden (south Netherlands) that the soil gets dry real quick the last years.I still don't know for sure what is causing this but a likely cause could be that the groundwater level sank.

I live in Quebec City and all day yesterday it looked like fog had invaded the city. I do love the smell of smoke but this is different of course - plus all those displaced people.

But you know what? I've since resolved myself to adapt to Earth changes rather than fight them. That's why I don't attach myself to anything material, and I'm ready to leave the house within a five minute period if needed - at all times.

digitalsentinal wrote:I live in Quebec City and all day yesterday it looked like fog had invaded the city. I do love the smell of smoke but this is different of course - plus all those displaced people.

But you know what? I've since resolved myself to adapt to Earth changes rather than fight them. That's why I don't attach myself to anything material, and I'm ready to leave the house within a five minute period if needed - at all times.

Honestly in this day and age with disasters striking all over the place you probably have the attitude about it all. You don't sound overly paranoid, granted I don't know......but in this instance you seem clear headed. I think people need to come to grips to some degree with the fact that it can all be gone tomorrow.

I am a nightmare walking, psychopath talkingKing of my jungle just a gangster stalking

My grass is yellow here in montreal,it's hot and theres not much rain for many weeks, abnormaly early summer!I dont know about the fires,i dont have an antenna on my tv,i use it as a 50" computer monitor.

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